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 | | From: | J Smytje | | Subject: | League Investigations against cruelty to wildlife. | | Date: | Thu, 25 Nov 2004 09:16:49 +0000 |
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 | http://www.league.uk.com/investigations/index.htm
Investigations
"If an outright ban on hunting is won, campaigners will have much to
thank the undercover investigations unit at the League Against Cruel
Sports for… the risks of discovery are high and investigators have
received death threats"
The Big Issue
When researching the secretive world of blood sports and wildlife
crime there is really only one way to gather evidence of cruelty and
wrongdoing - to go undercover. League investigators do just that,
frequently putting themselves at risk in order to gather unique
footage, photos and information that expose the reality of blood
sports and wildlife persecution.
Evidence obtained by League investigators has been hugely instrumental
in proving the case for the abolition of blood sports and in
highlighting the disturbing nature (and scale) of wildlife crime.
Film, photos and information gathered is used to compile major reports
and briefings that are presented to parliament, the media and other
relevant bodies by the League's political and press teams.
As well exposing the horrors of hunting with dogs, game bird shooting
and coursing, League investigators are on the frontline in the battle
to combat illegal blood sports and wildlife crime. The League is the
UK's only organisation confronting illegal hare coursing; obtaining
covert video evidence and information and working with the police in
order to identify and confront offenders.
Similarly, it was League investigators who brought the brutality of
badger baiting to the world's attention after they infiltrated and
secretly filmed one of the country's most notorious gangs, resulting
in prison sentences for the ringleaders. More recently, League
investigators revealed the shocking extent of the (frequently illegal)
slaughter of wildlife by gamekeepers looking to protect the millions
of game birds bred to be shot for sport each year.
Recent investigations have also looked at international blood sports,
exposing the cruelty, hypocrisy and colonial nature of big game trophy
hunting and revealing the UK travel agencies who trade in this 'safari
slaughter'. Unique information and video gathered during these
groundbreaking investigations was used to launch the
www.bloodybusiness.com project and helped to kick-start a wider
campaign against the hunting of some of the world's most threatened
species such as leopard, rhino, elephant and cheetah.
Undercover investigations form a vital part of the League's overall
campaigning strategy to abolish blood sports and tackle wildlife
crime. Without these investigations, MPs, the media, League members,
supporters and the wider public would not be aware of the nature and
scale of wildlife persecution.
If you have any information that you think may be of value to League
investigators, you can email them in confidence
investigations@league.uk.com or write to them at Investigations Unit,
Lacs Ltd, Sparling House, 83-87 Union Street, London, SE1 1SG.
Recent investigations have included:
Bred to be wild - Exposing the pheasant rearing industry.
League investigators expose the reality of the rearing of supposedly
"wild, natural and free range" pheasants.
The Futility of Upland Hunting - Britain's mountain fox hunts exposed
http://tinyurl.com/6ayjz
Based on ten months of undercover investigations in Cumbria and North
Yorkshire, this report incontrovertibly proves that 'upland' hunts
differ little from more conventional fox hunting outfits and therefore
should be granted no special exemptions in forthcoming legislation to
outlaw the sport.
Digging The Dirt - A special investigation into Welsh gun-packs
League investigators went undercover in the mountains of Mid-Wales for
three months in this unprecedented probe that reveals the gross
cruelty of terrier work.
Unearthed: Canned fox hunting in the heart of England
A major expose of the Croome and West Warwickshire Fox Hounds
revealing how a fox was held captive in a specially designed chamber
prior to killing, proving that the sport has little to do with pest
control and everything to do with sport.
Revealed: How a top Midlands shoot slaughtered hundreds of wild
animals in secret cull
http://tinyurl.com/3c7lj
Wild About Killing - an investigation into the UK travel companies
enabling British sport hunters to slaughter some of the world's most
threatened species
http://tinyurl.com/6s9cv
This groundbreaking investigation into the organisers of 'hunting
safaris' provoked an outcry when released late in 2003, revealing how
paying customers can book up a 'holiday' to shoot animals such as
elephant, rhino, leopard, lion, baboon and cheetah. And then bring the
animal home as a trophy to hang on the wall.
Revealed: how rare big cats are baited, shot and stuffed in the name
of conservation - a special investigation into African trophy hunting
http://www.league.uk.com/investigations/Wild_about_killing_2.pdf
Containing testimony from secretly filmed meetings with leading UK
trophy hunters and stills from graphic video footage obtained in
Tanzania of a baited leopard hunt, this shocking briefing paints a
very different picture of the pastime than the one portrayed by its
advocates.
For information on other investigative work carried out by the League,
please see the news/media section of this website.
http://www.league.uk.com/news/index.htm
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